Valentine's sudden 'knowledge'

He didn't seem to be a very good conman, otherwise I would credit that as a contributing part of his skills.

Even so, Billy Ray was much closer to the common folks' way of thinking than the Dukes. That may have been enough to give him the insight required to rise to the top.


"De gustibus non disputandum est"
#3

I think his primary role was that of a financial advisor, rather than a broker or investor. The firm itself did the brokering, but Valentine could do what he was doing without a license as he was merely offering information which the Dukes broadcast to the investors.

Just because "Mr. Valentine has set the price" doesn't really mean much to anyone until his advice starts being valued like E.F. Hutton's.
of course he had other roles in that firm such as going over the payroll and such so i'm not really sure it's clear as to what his specific position in the firm actually was.



"De gustibus non disputandum est"
#3

Excellent point, Captain Marvel.



"De gustibus non disputandum est"
#3

It's clearly the fact he cottons on to the fact that stockbroking is just an accepted form of bookmaking. It's also suggesting that it often doesn't take great knowledge or vision in the job, just luck and pluck.

No. Prosaic arrogance.

Well he also applies logic to things. We only see him in the role for like two to three weeks. And again we have no idea of his past.

Exactly. He understood that people would panic as the betting window closed and worries they wouldn't be able to get their kid a GI Joe with the Kung Fu Grip would drive them to sell off their bets (shares).

His subsequent auditing of the office's expense accounts showed an expertise not explained by his knowledge of making book.

I think both the rich and poor were unrealistic in this movie.

Real 'rich people', like the Dukes, would never have been completely destroyed by one bad deal - they would have had investments, properties, possessions, stocks, assets and so on and so forth, to fall back on, and continue being rich, regardless of what happens in the orange juice-market.

Real homeless or 'poor people', when given a house, would -not- suddenly and immediately be so careful and 'possessive' of it - they would just take the opportunity to party hard with friends, instead of worrying about stains on his carpets or cigarette burns or whatnot.

He would just 'utilize it fully', without a worry about these things. Rich people would worry that way, someone that earned that kind of house, would worry about guests making a mess - but someone that's given it on a silver platter, would not appreciate it.

Look at those rich youtuber kids that have no regard of the value of pretty much anything, except views, or anyone that has become rich very quickly - they don't care about a coffee stain on the rug or if their friends vomit in their Van Gogh - they can always buy another (or that's their attitude).

This kind of people go bankrupt very quickly, because they don't know how to appreciate, estimate or handle big amounts of money, they just know they want stuff and now they can get stuff, and how the heck did they end up penniless all of the sudden..

That's what would happen to Eddie Murphy's character, he wouldn't care about what happens to the house, he would only care that he has lots of wealth and can have constant fun now.